Tömegspektrometria: múlt és jelen

Mass spectrometry is a highly sensitive high-throughput instrumental analytical technique. It is used to determine the molecular mass, but also gives information on molecular structure amd is used for quantitation as well. Although it was developed over 100 years ago, it continues to evolve, both with respect to figures of merit (like sensitivity) and with respect to applications in various novel fields of science and technology. Mass spectrometry is capable of studying macromolecules (like proteins and protein complexes), and has very high sensitivity, now compounds at the atto- or zeptomol level can also be studied. Mass spectrometry can be coupled to separation techniques, and can be used to analyze complex mixtures, trace level compounds in biological matrices like active pharmaceutical ingredients or metabolites. In recent years in proteomics research has become a major new direction. In the present review we briefly introduce basic mass spectrometry techniques (ion surces, analyzers), combinations with chromatography (GC/MS, HPLC/MS), CEI MS) and tandem mass spectrometry. We also introduce two novel methods, mass spectrometry "imaging" and "lab-on-a-chip" technology

Development and characterization of the voriconazole loaded lipid-based nanoparticles.

The number of topical fungal infections is growing, mostly owing to immunosuppressive therapy. Several topical fungal infections, such as eye mycoses, can be treated by local administration of antimycotic drugs. One major group of the antifungal agents is triazole, such as voriconazole (VCZ), which is used as the first line treatment of aspergillosis. A disadvantage of VCZ is its low water solubility making the drug difficult to administer in a liquid preparation. The lipid-based nanoparticles (LNP) have attracted increasing attention due to their advantageous properties. Contrarily to the conventional carrier systems, LNP can improve the poor solubility of topically used drugs, such as VCZ. Therefore, LNP represents promising alternatives to traditional carrier systems. The aim of the study was to formulate VCZ loaded lipid-based nanoparticles (VCZ-LNP) by high pressure homogenization (HPH). The developed LNPs were characterized by particle size analysis, IR spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, dialysis test and antifungal efficacy studies. The particle size of the optimized nanoparticles from the selected lipid base, Witepsol(R) W35, was 182+/-4.1nm after five cycles of homogenization at 600bar. The antifungal study confirmed that the optimized VCZ-LNP inhibited the fungus reproduction

Citalopram Neuroendocrine Challenge Shows Altered Tryptophan and Kynurenine Metabolism in Migraine

Altered tryptophan (TRP) metabolism may have an important role in migraine susceptibility through its main metabolites, serotonin and kynurenine (KYN). Both affect pain processing and stress response by interfering with neural and brain hypersensitivity and by interacting with chemokines and cytokines that control vascular and inflammatory processes. The involvement of these pathways in migraine has been widely studied, but acute citalopram neuroendocrine challenge on TRP metabolism and cytokine profile has not been investigated yet. In our study, females with episodic migraine without aura and healthy controls were studied before and after acute citalopram or placebo in a double-blind setting. At baseline, increased TRP/large neutral amino acid (LNAA) ratio and decreased RANTES chemokine concentration were detected in migraine patients compared to controls. The challenge induced a significant increase in TRP, KYN, and TRP/LNAA in healthy controls, but not in migraine patients. Furthermore, migraine attack frequency negatively correlated with KYN/TRP ratio and positively correlated with the neuroendocrine-challenge-induced KYN concentration increase. Our results support a decreased breakdown of TRP via KYN pathway and a failure to modulate TRP–KYN pathway during citalopram-induced acute stress together with an increased vascular sensitivity in migraine. These mechanisms may provide useful drug targets for future drug development